Skin Tempering Came Naturally

"The time added together made exactly one night."

Lin Xiaotian held the pill and pondered.

If his Blood Qi had been sufficient, there would have been no need to do it in intervals. A single night would have been enough to upgrade the pill's quality.

It was time to take it.

However, after taking this top-grade pill, he would most likely break through to Skin Tempering. Breaking through now would be far too conspicuous.

He would wait until the first person broke through.

He could use this period to learn more about Blood Essence Pills.

And he could not slack off on matters concerning his sister, either.

The demonized one and the normal one were clearly fighting over the body. No matter which one succeeded, it seemed neither could do without his Blood Qi.

If the demonized one succeeded and returned, he would surely not escape calamity.

But if his normal sister returned, although she might be friendly, things would still be hard to predict then.

If his normal sister truly treated him well and they merely took what they needed from each other, then he would certainly repay the kindness of raising him. He also needed to get to his sister as soon as possible and help her.

The information his sister had left when they parted also hinted at one possibility: unless he reached Hidden Force or above, even if he found her, he would be unable to help.

Lin Xiaotian put away the pill and went into the room with the array patterns.

Over the past few days, he had been nourishing the pill and had not tested them, afraid that the array patterns would absorb his Blood Qi.

He began practicing "Eight Extremes Mountain-Shattering Force." Strands of Blood Qi rose like silk threads, beginning to circulate along the path of the technique.

He suddenly thrust forward. His Blood Qi intensified once more, changing from threads into a thin stream that flooded his entire body. His whole body grew warm and comfortable.

By the time he finished practicing the technique, he was covered in sweat.

Looking at the utterly unresponsive floor, he muttered to himself:

"Looks like I absorbed the entire array pattern. I just don't know whether it was because of the pattern itself, or the special material within it."

"My sister did mention that the materials used for array patterns were extraordinary."

"Ah, no matter what happens in the future, whether it is to save her or protect myself, improving my strength is the true path... If I improve too slowly, that female demon might come back to suck my blood before I even reach Hidden Force."

Another three days passed just like that.

At last, someone in the martial arts hall broke through the first minor bottleneck and reached Skin Tempering.

That breakthrough was like a shot of chicken blood, making the other Initiation disciples even more excited and driven to strive upward.

"Hehe, Junior Brother Lin, the first time I saw you, I knew you were extraordinary."

"From what I sensed, even if you had not broken through, you should at least have made considerable progress. Why have you improved less than all the other disciples?"

"Could it be that you still could not bear to take that pill?"

Senior Brother Tao spoke with half confusion and half teasing.

Lin Xiaotian laughed awkwardly.

"You flatter me, Senior Brother. My natural talent is ordinary. I only have a slight advantage in willpower and comprehension. But if I want to reach Skin Tempering now, those two things alone are not enough."

Senior Brother Tao nodded.

"That is true. Willpower can still help at the Initiation threshold, but once you reach the true first stage, Skin Tempering, it really depends on natural talent."

"The better your Blood Qi is cultivated, the more nourishment your natural talent receives. Then reaching Skin Tempering will come as naturally as water flowing into a channel."

"At that stage, your skin will be thick and your flesh strong. So long as no blades or swords are involved, ordinary people will not be able to hurt you."

Lin Xiaotian smiled. "Thank you for telling me, Senior Brother. I will practice harder. Perhaps I will break through very soon."

Senior Brother Tao nodded, but his expression suddenly changed again.

"Junior Brother Lin, this is a martial arts hall after all. Do not keep doing too much over that Qin Household young master..."

Lin Xiaotian blinked.

"Since when does the martial arts hall interfere even in this?"

Senior Brother Tao shook his head.

"Not entirely."

"Your actions outside also indirectly represent the martial arts hall. The Qin Household has martial artists as well. The reason they have not touched you is because they are giving the martial arts hall face."

"If you go too far and damage the martial arts hall's image, the Hall Master may personally act and expel you from the sect."

Lin Xiaotian understood and thanked him again.

Senior Brother Tao said quietly:

"Of course, if you meet some ruthless character outside and kill him or something, as long as the matter does not come to light, there is no need to worry too much."

Lin Xiaotian's eyes widened. He finally understood that this world truly spoke with fists.

"And another thing! Although the Qin Household has not had an Internal Force expert watching over it these past years, Master Qin's greatest asset is his good daughter. You had better be careful."

Lin Xiaotian raised a brow.

"His daughter is an Internal Force expert?"

"No," Senior Brother Tao said. "She is External Force, and she rarely returns."

"She is not even Internal Force. Why would the other Lineages fear a mere External Force martial artist?"

Senior Brother Tao's expression turned solemn as he said seriously:

"Although she is External Force, there are rumors that she once escaped alive from an Internal Force expert."

Lin Xiaotian's eyes went wide, though he was still somewhat puzzled.

"Even if she... Oh, I understand."

"Senior Brother Tao, because she has not returned for so long and possesses tremendous potential, if someone harms the Qin Household, they fear she will return for revenge once she reaches Internal Force."

Senior Brother Tao slapped his thigh.

"Talking to Junior Brother Lin is refreshing indeed."

"That is right. She is roughly your age, already newly entered into External Force, yet comparable to late-stage External Force. With potential like that... it is almost certain she will reach Internal Force in the future."

"If someone truly offends such a person and wipes out the Qin Household, then once there is no Lineage left to restrain her, the other Lineages will certainly be washed in blood."

Lin Xiaotian sighed.

At the same age, this woman had already made Internal Force Lineages wary. Just thinking about such potential was terrifying.

"Most importantly, her whereabouts are uncertain. Even if several Lineages wanted to join forces and ambush her beforehand, they could not do it."

Senior Brother Tao spoke with a face full of emotion.

After taking his leave of Senior Brother Tao, Lin Xiaotian returned to his residence and took out the pill from inside the house.

"It is time."

As he spoke, he swallowed it in one gulp.

The scorching medicinal power slid down his intestines into his abdomen, then spread from his abdomen throughout his body.

His entire body felt pleasantly tipsy, as though being slowly roasted over a small fire.

The fire was not fierce, but it felt extraordinarily comfortable.

The Blood Qi he had once thought abundant suddenly felt so parched once the medicinal power entered him.

In an instant, it was nourished like a desert receiving rain.

Lin Xiaotian felt so comfortable that he almost moaned, but his hands did not stop moving.

He rose directly to his feet and assumed the stance of "Eight Extremes Mountain-Shattering Force."

As the technique circulated, the medicinal power gradually dissolved amid the ceaseless surging of his Blood Qi.

He could clearly feel his Blood Qi becoming full.

The instant his Blood Qi grew robust, the force of the technique suddenly changed, bringing with it an immensely powerful pressure.

It pressed down upon his small body like a mountain.

In that instant, the strange sensation of being crushed into a sheet of paper flooded his mind.

Is this going to crush me to death? Is the pill's power really this tyrannical?

Yet before he could think any further.

With a bang, the world seemed to become fragments—crushed apart, cracked, shattered.

At the same time, the sensation of being flattened into paper vanished without a trace, leaving behind only an incomparably surging tide of Blood Qi.

"This is Skin Tempering!"

Only then did he exclaim in excitement.